Inhibition of green tea polyphenol EGCG((−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate) on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells by suppressing canonical wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway

Abstract

(−)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major polyphenol in green tea, could affect carcinogenesis and development of many cancers. However, the effects and underlying mechanisms of EGCG on gastric cancer remain unclear. We found that EGCG significantly inhibited proliferation and increased apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells in vitro. The decreased expressions of p-β-catenin(Ser552), p-GSK3β(S9) and β-catenin target genes were detected in SGC-7901 cells after treated by EGCG. XAV939 and β-catenin plasmid were further used to demonstrate the inhibition of EGCG on canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling. Moreover, EGCG significantly inhibited gastric tumour growth in vivo by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signalling. Taken together, our findings establish that EGCG suppressed gastric cancer cell proliferation and demonstrate that this inhibitory effect is related to canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling. This study raises a new insight into gastric cancer prevention and therapy, and provides evidence that green tea could be used as a nutraceutical beverage.

Keywords:

• Epigallocatechin-3-gallate
• gastric carcinoma
• proliferation
• Wnt/β-catenin signalling

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Funding information

This study was supported by the Joint special Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of Shandong (No. ZR2015HL082).